USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 65
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ing lady and a fine conversationalist. Her many good traits of heart and mind have made her life a blessing to the community and wherever known she is held in the highest esteen and warmest regard.
DEDRICK KNALSEN.
A farm of two hundred acres on section 12, Mount Pleasant township pays tribute to the care and labor of Dedrick Knalsen, who purchased this property in March, 1900. It is known as the Aaron Young farm and when it came into his possession was worth about seventy-five dollars per acre. Today he would refuse one hundred dollars per acre for the place, which is now well improved, while the fields have been brought under a high state of cultivation. He carries on the tilling of the soil and also raises stock and both branches of his business are proving profitable.
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. Mr. Knalsen is a native of Germany, his birth having occurred in the state of Oldenburg, January 15, 1856. His parents, John and Emily Fred- erika (Gerdes) Knalsen, came to America in 1859 and settled in Lee county, Illinois, near Dixon, where they made their home for a few years prior to taking up their abode in Whiteside county. The mother died here about twenty-one years ago, when fifty-nine years of age. The father made his home with his son Dedrick Knalsen for about sixteen years prior to his death, which occurred in the fall of 1903, when he was on a visit to North Dakota. He was then seventy-seven years of age. He owned eighty acres of land in Hopkins township, this county, and for several years during his active life followed farming in the employ of others in order to gain a start. He was thus engaged in 1858, when wages were but fifty cents per day. Whatever success he achieved was attributable entirely to his own labors and he well deserved the proud American title of a "self-made man." Unto Mr. and Mrs. Knalsen were born eight children, five sons and three daughters, as fol- lows: Henry, a farmer and thresher, living in McLean county, North Da- kota, is now married and has two sons. Dedrick is the next of the family. Maggie is the wife of John Folkers, a farmer, residing in Cloud county, Kan- sas, by whom she has two children. Mary is the wife of Frank Buhler, who follows farming near Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, and they have three sons. Baker and Fred, twins, died about 1878, when twenty years of age. Louisa died in 1879, at the age of fifteen years, and John died in infancy over forty years ago.
Dedrick Knalsen was largely rearcd in Whiteside county. He was but three years old when his parents left the fatherland and established their home in Illinois and was but a young lad when they came from Lee county to this county. He attended the public schools and thus obtained a fair English education and received ample training in the work of the farm. He was thus well qualified to take charge of a farm of his own after attaining manhood, and in his chosen life work he has met with gratifying success. He farmed for sixteen years in Hopkins township and since then has lived
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DEDRICK KNALŞEN AND FAMILY
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in Mount Pleasant township, purchasing his present place in 1900. In the intervening years he has added many improvements, converting it into one of the excellent farms of the locality, supplied with all modern accessories and conveniences, including the latest improved machinery and substantial buildings.
In 1876, in Hopkins township, Mr. Knalsen was married to Miss Ida M. Frerichs, who was born in Germany near the town of Gever, which was also the locality of her husband's birth. Her parents, Frederick and Katherine (Uken) Frerichs, came to the United States in 1870 and were residents of Hopkins township, Whiteside county, Illinois, until the death of the father in 1890, when he was sixty-nine years of age. His wife survived and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Knalsen, in February, 1904, at the age of seventy-seven years. Mrs. Knalsen was an only child and was reared in Whiteside county from the age of thirteen. She attended school in Germany and also in this country. By her marriage she has become the mother of six children. Hannah, the eldest, is now the wife of Harm Thilen, who cultivates the old homestead farm in Hopkins township and they have four children, Emma, Le Roy, Louisa and Edwin. Ricka is the wife of Henry Mammen, who resides on a farm near her father's plaee, and they have one son, Raymond. Louisa is the wife of Louis Cassens, a resident farmer of Hopkins township, and they have two daughters, Florence and Edna. Ed- ward, at the age of twenty-one years, assists in the operation of the home farm. Arthur died in 1894, at the age of three years and five months. Harry is attending school at the age of eleven years.
Mr. Knalsen votes with the republican party and is in thorough sym- pathy with its principles and poliey. He has served as school director and in other local offices, and both he and his wife are members of the German Lutheran church. They are interested in its growth and in the extension of its influence and endorse all measures for the public progress and improve- ment. Throughout his life he has been actuated by the enterprising spirit of the west and the salient traits of his character are such as work for success in the business world and command the admiration of all. Starting out in life without assistance, he has gradually worked his way upward and holds today an enviable position as one who owes his prosperity to his well-defined energy and well-directed labors.
CLARENCE M. FRYE, M. D.
Dr. Clarence M. Frye is engaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery in Rock Falls and the extent of the patronage accorded him is in- dicative of the confidence reposcd in his skill and ability. He is one of Illinois' native sons, his birth having occurred in Morrison, April 4, 1877, his parents being Samuel M. and Elizabeth (Maxfield) Frye, whose family numbered two children, the daughter being Mrs. Nellie Hess, now the wife of Fred Hess, of Whiting, Indiana. The father, a native of Michigan, fol-
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lowed farming in early manhood. Hc was brought to Whiteside -county, Illinois, in his youth and was reared in the neighborhood of Morrison. For a number of years he carried on general agricultural pursuits in Mount Pleasant township but subsequently abandoned the tilling of the soil and entered commercial life as a dealer in musical instruments, carrying on that business for many years in Morrison. For the past few years, however, he has lived retired. His wife is a native of Como, Illinois, and was a daugh- ter of Nathaniel. Maxfield.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of Pennsylvania and of German descent. He followed the occupation of farming and lived to the age of seventy-five years. Catherine Frye, the grandmother, lived to be eighty-three years of age. Nathaniel Maxfield, the maternal grandfather, was born in Rhode Island and in early life was a frontier stage driver but during the greater part of his life carried on general farming. Removing to the west during the formative period in the history of this section of the state, he resided in Whiteside county and took up land from the government. It was entirely destitute of improvements and the entire countryside was largely an unclaimed and unsettled district. Mr. Maxfield lived at Como before Sterling was known and subsequently made his home north of Round Grove. At a later date he owned a farm cast of Morrison, where he resided until 1888, when his death occurred, he being then seventy-three years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Susan Sherman, was an own cousin of General W. T. Sherman, and also of Stephen A. Douglas, and be- longed to an old aristocratic family. She died at the age of fifty-one years. By her marriage she became the mother of two sons and eight daughters.
Dr. Clarence M. Frye was reared in Morrison and entered the public schools, passing through successive grades until he completed the high-school course in the class of 1896. His consideration of the question of a life work at length resulted in the choice of the medical profession and as a preparation for practice he matriculated in Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1902. He then located for practice in Rock Falls, where he has remained to the present time. He is thoroughly in touch with the most modern methods pursued by the members of the medical fraternity and his professional service has been of the utmost benefit to many whom he has attended, indicating his comprehensive understanding of the prin- ciples and science of medicine and his correct application of his knowledge to the needs of suffering humanity. He is now medical examiner for a large number of fraternal orders.
Dr. Frye was married November 7, 1905, to Miss Birdie X. Ferris, a daughter of John S. and Minnic (Davis) Ferris. The family home is at No. 305 Dixon avenue, and they have an interesting little daughter, Hclen Elizabeth. Dr. Frye is a Presbyterian in religious faith, while his wife is a member of the Congregational church. He belongs to Rock River Lodge, No. 612, A. F. & A. M.,; Sterling Chapter, No. 57, R. A. M .; and Sterling Commandery, No. 57, K. T., while with the Nobles of Tebala Temple of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but official honors and cmoluments have
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no attraetion for him, as he prefers to give his undivided attention to his professional labors, which are discharged with a sense of conscientious obliga- tion that has won for him the confidence of the public and the respeet of his professional brethren.
SAMUEL MCKEAN McCALMONT.
Samuel Mckean McCalmont, one of the strong and able members of the Whiteside county bar, practieing as senior partner of the firm of McCalmont & Ramsay, at Morrison, was born in Ustick township, this county, December 30, 1867. His father, John J. McCalmont, a native of Center county, Penn- sylvania, died September 27, 1869, when about twenty-nine years of age, his son being then less than two years old. He was of Scoteh-Irish aneestry and his great-grandfather, Thomas McCalmont, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. John J. McCalmont acquired a common school education and devoted his life to agricultural.pursuits. He came to Illinois about 1865, settling on a traet of land in Ustick township, Whiteside county, his remaining days being spent upon the farm which he there purchased and improved. He was an enterprising agriculturist and successful in his undertakings, his well- directed labors bringing good results. His politieal allegianee was given to the republican party and in religious faith he was a Presbyterian. His ster- ling characteristics were those which constitute honorable manhood and busi- ness integrity. He married Sarah Elizabeth MeKean, also a native of Center county, Pennsylvania, and of Scoteh-Irish lineage. She is still living, at the age of sixty-six years and is a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Lowry) McKean, both of whom died in Pennsylvania. After losing her first hus- band, Mrs. McCalmont became the wife of John Miller, now of Fulton, Illinois, and unto them was born a daughter, Anna, the wife of Edward B. Garretson, a printer of Moline, Illinois.
Samuel Mckean McCalmont, the only son of the first marriage, was rcared upon a farm to the age of nineteen years and attended the district schools, also continuing his studies in the sehools of Morrison and of Fulton, Illinois, being graduated from the Fulton high school in the class of 1888. Later he spent one year as a student in the Northern Illinois College at Ful- ton, and then entered the literary department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the fall of 1889. At the beginning of the sehool year of 1890 he became a student in the law department of that institution and was graduated therefrom in 1892. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in June of the same year and at once began the practice of law at Fulton and continued there until March, 1895, when he removed to Morrison, where he entered into partnership with Judge Frank D. Ramsay, under the firm style of Ramsay & McCalmont. This relation was maintained until the election of the senior partner to the beneh of the circuit court in 1897, after which Mr. McCalmont practiced alone until November, 1899, when Luther R. Ramsay, a son of his former partner, joined him in the firm of MeCalmont
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& Ramsay. This is recognized as one of the strong law firms of the county and this part of the state.
On the 16th of November, 1898, Mr. McCalmont was married to Miss Mary Alice Taylor, a daughter of Dr. Samuel Taylor, long a practitioner of this city. Mr. McCalmont is an active factor in the public interests and wel- fare of Morrison. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, to the Mystic Workers and the Whiteside County Bar Association. In 1897-8 he served as city attorney, while from 1903 until 1905 he gave to the city a public-spirited and businesslike administration while filling the office of mayor. He is a most active worker in party ranks and has been chairman of the republican county committee. Deeply interested in the public schools, he is likewise president of the board of education of Mount Pleasant township. As a nian and lawyer he occupies an enviable position in public regard and is recog- nized as one whose labors have been an element in the best interests and de- velopment of Morrison and his native county.
FRANK ANTHONY, M. D.
Dr. Frank Anthony, successfully engaged in the practice of medicine 1 and surgery in Sterling, his native city, was born March 9, 1858. In the paternal line he is descended from English ancestry. His grandfather, a native of England, came with his parents to America and settled in Onondaga county, New York, where the remainder of his life was passed. There . he died at an advanced age, after which his widow, Mrs. Permelia Anthony, came to Sterling and here died when more than ninety years of age.
Their son, Julius Phelps Anthony, was born in the Empire state and became a farmer, teacher and physician. He removed westward to Iowa in 1849 and for one year engaged in the active practice of medicine at Comanche, after which he removed to Sterling and for more than forty years was an able physician of this city. He practiced among his fellow townsmen and throughout the surrounding country and his labors were attended with excel- lent results, so that he became the loved family physician in many a house- hold. At the time of the Civil war his patriotism was strongly aroused and in the fall of 1861 he enlisted in the army, becoming assistant surgeon in the Sixty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He filled that position until the fall of 1863, when he was appointed surgeon of the One Hundred and Twenty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, so continuing until the close of the war. He was then mustered out at Springfield in the fall of 1865, having done an important work in the care of the sick and the wounded in the south. Re- turning to his home, he resumed his practice in Sterling and continued an active inember of the profession up to the time of his death, which occurred June 9, 1891, when he was sixty-nine years of age. In early manhood he wedded Martha Jane Parks, a native of Pennsylvania. Both were faithful members of the Presbyterian church and their lives were in harmony with their professions. Dr. Anthony gave his political allegiance to the republican
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party, was a very active worker in its ranks and took a helpful interest in all public improvements and in the progress of the city. He was largely instru- mental in securing the building of the macadamized roads throughout the township. Unto him and his wife were born two sons and three daughters: Permelia, who is now living in Sterling; Darwin H., a resident of California; Martha L., the wife of D. R. Crouse, of Salem, Oregon; Mary C., the wife of Judge Henry C. Ward, a prominent lawyer and jurist of Whiteside county; and Frank, of this review.
In taking up the personal history of Dr. Frank Anthony we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known here, having spent his entire life in this city. His early educational privileges afforded by the public schools of Sterling, were supplemented by study in Beloit College and he qualified for the profession as a student in Rush Med- ical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated on the 22d of February, 1881. On the 1st of April of that year he began practice in his native city, where he has remained continuously since. The name of Anthony has long figured in connection with the practice of medicine and surgery here and has always been associated in the minds of the people of Whiteside county with high professional honor and marked capability.
On the 4th of October, 1882, Mr. Anthony was married to Miss Nellic E. Persels, and two children were born to them: Nellie L. and Hazel E. The former is the wife of Hugh Ferguson, a resident of Chicago, and they have one son. The latter is a trained nurse in Chicago. The mother died Novem- ber 15, 1901, at the age of forty-two years. She had been reared in the Methodist church, but was a member of the Presbyterian church at the time of her demise. On the 26th of December, 1902, Dr. Anthony was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Allie Sneed, a daughter of Joseph Shultz, of Dixon, Illinois.
Dr. and Mrs. Anthony hold membership in the Presbyterian church and are prominent socially. They reside at No. 202 West Fourth street. The doctor has had some military experience, having enlisted in 1888 in Company E of the Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, of which he became second lieu- tenant. In June, 1889, he was appointed surgeon of the Sixth Regiment and saw service in the railway strike in Chicago in 1894. He was also sur- geon of the Sixth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Span- ish-American war and went with that command to Porto Rico, being mus- tered out in November, 1898, after the close of hostilities with Spain. He continued with the National Guard until 1900, when he resigned. Fra- ternally he belongs to Rock River Lodge, No. 612, A. F. & A. M .; Sterling Chapter, No. 57, R. A. M .; and Sterling Commandery, No. 57, K. T. He is likewise connected with the Knights of the Globe and the Illinois Com- mandery of the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-American war. His political support is unfalteringly given the republican party. In the line of his profession he has various membership associations, belonging to the County and State Medical Societies, the American Medical Association and the American Association of Railway Surgeons, being entitled to mem- bership in the last named by reason of the fact that he is surgeon for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. He likewise belongs to the
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Western Surgical and Gynecological Association and to other soeieties for the dissemination of knowledge eoneerning the science of medicine. His inves- tigations have been earried far and wide into the realms of medical lore and he is quick to adopt any new method or remedy which his judgment sanc- tions as of value in his professional work.
LEWIS C. ARNETT.
Lewis C. Arnett, a retired agriculturist living in Prophetstown, was born in Portland township, Whiteside county, on the 18th of December, 1842. His paternal grandparents were Lewis and Clara (Sheddick) Arnett, the former a native of Alsace, France, where his birth occurred in 1791. He served as a soldier under Napoleon in his native country, and in the year 1827 emigrated to Ameriea, first locating in Rochester, New York, while subsequently he removed to Warren county, Pennsylvania, there purchasing a farm.
His son, Jacob Arnett, the father of our subject, was born in Alsace, France, April 15, 1815, and accompanied his parents on their emigration to the United States in 1827. He remained with his parents on the home farm and assisted in the work of the fields but by the time he attained his majority had become convineed that he could never carry on agricultural pursuits successfully in the Keystone state on account of the stony condition of the soil. The day previous to the celebration of his twenty-first birthday, while doing some plowing, the point of his plow struek a rock and the handles flew up and struck him in the ribs. He told his father he would never touch the plow again and the next day was employed at rafting logs down the Ohio river, arriving in Whiteside county, Illinois, in 1836. He at once took up a elaim of land on section 35, Portland township, and the next year induced his father to join him here, entering a tract of land for him- self adjoining his original claim and letting his father settle on the latter. The death of Lewis Arnett occurred in 1868. Jacob Arnett early displayed untiring industry and sound business judgment in the conduet of his inter- ests. He was noted for his trading propensities and would dig ditches, put up fences or work at haying and harvesting, taking his pay in stock or any- thing else which he could subsequently trade off. In a few years he had aceumulated quite an amount of property and was widely recognized as an enterprising and prosperous eitizen and respected pioneer of his community. At the time of the California gold excitement he fitted out some fine teams, proceeded to the Golden state and there used his teams to excellent advantage, returning to his home in Portland township when he had a goodly supply of the precious metal. For several years prior to his death he was engaged in the implement business at Geneseo, Illinois. His demise occurred in May, 1899, at that place, and the county mourned the loss of one of its most honored pioncers and successful business men.
In 1841 Jacob Arnett returned to Pennsylvania, where he was married to Miss Charlotte Summers, a native. of Germany, who died in August, 1881,
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at the age of seventy years. In the family of this worthy couple were seven children: Lewis C., of this review; Samuel J., of Geneseo, Illinois; Phillip S., who resides in Erie, Illinois, Mary E. Smith, of Geneseo; Albert W., who makes his home in North Platte, Nebraska; Clara Rapp, who lives in Henry County, Illinois; and Tillie Alber, of Kansas City, Missouri.
Lewis C. Arnett was reared on the home farm and when not busy with the labors of the fields during the winter season pursued his education in the common sehools. In 1866 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land and two years later added eighty acres more to his holdings. He still owns this farm of two hundred acres of valuable and well improved land and also owns twenty-seven acres of timber land in Henry county, Illinois. In 1878 Mr. Arnett rented his farm and removed to Geneseo, Illinois, where he was engaged in the implement business for three years but on the expira- tion of that period returned to farming, which pursuit he carried on until February, 1908, when he put aside aetive work and is now living retired in Prophetstown, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned rest. Per- severance, industry and capable business management have brought him the prosperity which now erowns his labors and he is widely known as one of the prominent and sueeessful eitizens of his native county.
On the 6th of September, 1868, Mr. Arnett was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Roos, who was born in IIenry county, Illinois, in May, 1849, a daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Lehman) Roos, whose family num- bered five children: Martin J., of South Dakota; Phillip, who resides in Erie, Illinois; Rebecca Heller, who makes her home in Geneseo, Illinois; Mrs. Arnett; and one who is deceased. Mrs. Elizabeth Roos died in 1855 when about twenty-six years of age, and for his second wife Martin Roos ehose Miss Barbara Knapper, by whoni he had ten children, nine of whom are yet living. The father passed away in Geneseo on the 22d of September, 1901, at the age of eighty-five years, his second wife surviving him until August, 1907, when she, too, was called to her final rest. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Arnett have been born eight children. Clare, who is the wife of Gus Weburg, resides at Prophetstown and has four children: Claude, Lewis, Mildred and Robert. Stacy was united in marriage to Minnie Zschiesehe and lives in Portland township. Roy, who married Mabel Weber, lives in Henry county, Illinois, and has two children, Guy and Belva. Ida, the wife of Leman Hill, makes her home in Prophetstown. Agnes, who became the wife of Jay Sibley, is living in Portland township. Winnie, the wife of B. Berge, also resides in Portland township. Maude, wife of Frank Sibley, and Harlan are both at home.
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